Spinning kicks, rhythmic steps, and Portuguese lyrics filled the hall as members of Boston-based Sinhá Capoeira performed for and taught students from Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School (MVPCS).
Although there was initial reluctance by students to join in, a demonstration by the capoeira practitioners — a combination of sweeping kicks, cartwheels, and a fluid interchange of capoeiristas performing spar-like “play” accompanied by drumming, clapping, singing, and the melodies from a musical bow called a berimbau — charged the youngsters’ enthusiasm to learn about capoeira.
“There is no capoeira without music,” Sinhá Capoeira founder and artistic director Lindemberg Desouza — known as Mestre Chuvisquinho in the capoeira community — a third-generation capoeirista who has been practicing the art his entire life, said.
A Times reporter observed a performance and a class for the Charter School’s middle and high school students on Thursday, Oct. 5, at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall.
